Custom cabinets and built-ins for Crystal Lake homes

The ice harvest, two villages and the O'Hare years

The railroad of 1855 missed the hamlet by more than a mile. In 1863 Charles Dole, of the grain firm Armour and Dole, set up an estate at the end of the rail spur, took in the lake bottom, and harvested the lake's ice for Chicago; his Italianate mansion of 1865 still stands on Country Club Road. Nunda, at the railroad junction, and Crystal Lake each incorporated in 1874, and in 1914 the two merged into the City of Crystal Lake. In 1933 residents of the south shore formed their own village, Lakewood. The town stayed steady through the 1930s to the 1950s. Then, in the early 1960s, the Coventry subdivision sold out quickly to pilots working at O'Hare and set off a land rush; by 1980 the population was 18,590, double the early 1960s. The city has 18 local landmarks, among them the Dole Mansion and the 1929 El Tovar Theater, now the Raue Center for the Arts.

The housing count shows it. Only about one home in eighteen was built before 1940; about four in ten went up between 1990 and 2009, and the median year is 1986.

So the house sets the job:

• In an older house near downtown or the lake: painted or stained wood, and trim matched to the house. We reproduce profiles that are no longer sold.
• In a house from the 1960s to the 1980s: a kitchen in a new layout, a family-room built-in, or a spare bedroom turned into an office.
• In a house from the 1990s or 2000s: replacing builder cabinets and closets, or adding the built-ins the house never had.

Crystal Lake permits and kitchen alterations

Crystal Lake's permits page lists windows, roofing, siding, fences, pools, decks, HVAC, driveways and sheds as permit work, and does not name kitchens or cabinets. It says: "Please contact the Building Division if your project needs a permit." (City of Crystal Lake permits, as read 2026-10-28; confirm for your address.) For a kitchen alteration, the city's Kitchen Alteration handout (2019) asks for "Two sets of building plans" and lists rough electrical, rough plumbing, rough framing, insulation and final inspections (Kitchen Alteration handout).

Ask the Building Division about your plan. We pull a permit when one is required.

A Crystal Lake home office, and work nearby

• In Crystal Lake: a home office with a waterfall desk, a vertical slat wall, a floating shelf and a drawer pedestal, in wood-look melamine.
• Algonquin: stairs, a closet and a built-in entertainment center.
• McHenry: a white shaker kitchen, and a closet and an entertainment center in a house on the Fox River.
• Bull Valley: a cream raised-panel kitchen.
• Spring Grove: a kitchen, and a full basement bar in stained oak with glass doors and a wine rack.
• Johnsburg: a stained kitchen.

Desk, wall and wires: planning a Crystal Lake home office

• The desk. Our Crystal Lake desk is a waterfall: the top turns down at the end to the floor. Decide how long the desk runs and where you sit; we size the drawer pedestal to it.
• The wall behind it. A slat wall and a floating shelf finish the wall above the desk in our Crystal Lake office. Tell us what the wall has to hold.
• The material. The office is wood-look melamine, a hard-wearing face that looks like wood. We can also build in stained or painted wood.
• Wires. Where the computer, the printer and the cables go decides where the drawer pedestal sits. Any new outlets are a licensed electrician's work.
• Trim. Nearly every job we do includes it.

Kitchens, closets and more for Crystal Lake homes

The home office is our work on record in Crystal Lake. Other work we take on, in an older house or a newer subdivision:

• Kitchens: European-style frameless flat-panel, our specialty, or painted and stained wood, framed or inset, for an older house near the lake or downtown.
• Built-ins: media walls, bookcases and window benches for the family room, in wood-look melamine like our office or in painted wood.
• Closets to replace builder wire shelving, and mudrooms by the garage door.
• Vanities, floating or on the floor.
• Bars, wine storage and garage cabinets.

A Crystal Lake project, half an hour from the shop

1. The visit. It starts with a visit. We measure, we listen, and we give you a straight number. If it works for you, we design it with you, and only then do we build. Crystal Lake is about half an hour from the shop. Your first visit and consultation are free.
2. Drawings. Your architect's or builder's drawings, priced as given, or our design package, which ends with the final price after one major revision.
3. The permit, when the Building Division calls for one; a kitchen alteration comes with plans and inspections.
4. The build. Roughly 6 to 8 weeks from signed drawings for an average kitchen; built-ins and closets usually 4 to 6.
5. Installation. A full kitchen usually takes 1 to 3 days; a home office or a single built-in takes less.

The lake, downtown and nearby towns

Crystal Lake is in McHenry County, northwest of Chicago. Main Beach sits on the lake's shore, and the village of Lakewood holds part of the south shore. The city's landmarks run from the Dole Mansion by the lake to the Raue Center downtown. We serve all of Crystal Lake. Nearby, see our pages for Algonquin, McHenry, Spring Grove and Johnsburg, or all the towns we serve. We also serve Lakewood, Bull Valley, Prairie Grove and Lake in the Hills.

Crystal Lake questions

Do I need a permit for new cabinets in Crystal Lake?

The city's permits page does not name kitchens or cabinets, and its Kitchen Alteration handout asks for building plans and inspections for a kitchen alteration. Ask the Building Division about your plan; we pull a permit when one is required.

Can you build a home office?

Yes. Our Crystal Lake office has a waterfall desk, a slat wall, a floating shelf and a drawer pedestal. See custom built-ins.

What is wood-look melamine?

A hard-wearing face, bonded to the panel, that looks like wood. Our Crystal Lake office is built in it.

Does landmark review cover the inside of a house?

The city's Historic Preservation Commission says "Landmark status preserves the exterior façade of your home or business." Ask the city if your house is one of its 18 landmarks.

Do you work in the newer subdivisions?

Yes. We serve all of Crystal Lake, older houses and new.

How far is Crystal Lake from your shop?

About 17 miles, roughly half an hour from Spring Grove.